Anti-theft device for trailer

ABSTRACT

A device for attachment to a trailer comprising a U-shaped member having a flange mounted between the sides thereof to which a support member may be locked to maintain the support member in a position perpendicular to the tongue of the trailer and whereby the tongue of the trailer is maintained at an angle oblique to the surface upon which the trailer is resting. The support member may also be locked to the flange in a storage position.

United States Patent Schwaiger [54] ANTI-THEFT DEVICE FOR TRAILER [72]Inventor: John E. Schwaiger, 75'56 Raleigh-la Grange Road, Cordova,Tenn. 38108 [22] Filed: Nov. 3, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 86,505

[52] US. Cl ..280/507, 280/150.5 [51] Int. Cl. ..B60d 7/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..280/475, 150.5, 150 R, 507;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,321,181 5/1967 Wagner..280/150.5 3,529,850 9/1970 Montalto ..280/l50.5 3,348,860 10/ 1 967Buckles ..280/475 51 Oct. 3, 1972 3/1962 Sims ..214/501 8/1924 Doyle..254/86R Primary Examiner-Benjamin Hersh Assistant Examiner-Robert R.Song Attorney-John R. Walker, III

[57] ABSTRACT A device for attachment to a trailer comprising a U-shaped member having a flange mounted between the sides thereof to whicha support member may be locked to maintain the support member in aposition perpendicular to the tongue of the trailer and whereby thetongue of the trailer is maintained at an angle oblique to the surfaceupon which the trailer is resting. The support member may also be lockedto the flange in a storage position.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PKTENTEnums m2 3.695.631

INVENTOR. 20 JOHN E. SCHWAIGER ANTI-THEFT DEVICE FOR TRAILER BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates toanti-theft devices for trailers, such as boat trailers, camping trailersand the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art A need has long existed for a simple,inexpensive device which might be attached to a boat trailer to preventits theft when the trailer is not locked to a car, post or a similarseemingly substantial item.- It is quite often necessary to leave onestrailer parked where there is nothing to which the trailer may belocked.

Various devices have been invented in an effort to prevent the theft ofa trailer. US. Pat. Nos. 3,226,133 to Geresy, 3,237,969 to Geresy, and3,434,741 to Grant are indicative of the various efforts expended inthis area. None of these patents fully satisfy the need since any of thetrailers equipped with the devices disclosed therein may be easily tiedor otherwise secured to the rear of a motor vehicle and towed away. US.Pat. No. 1,506,165 to Doyle discloses a device which, by way of a jack,maintains the wheels of a trailer out of contact with the road tothereby prevent theft of the trailer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide anantitheft device which may be easily attached to any trailer and whichmay easily and quickly be positioned from a storage position to a useposition to maintain the tongue of a trailer oblique to the surfacesupporting the trailer to thereby prevent movement of the trailer.

A U-shaped member is bolted or welded to either the frontward orrearward portion of a trailer and is adapted to receive an L-shapedsupport member. The U-shaped member has a flange therein having anopening therethru which may be brought into alignment with an openingthru the tongue or shorter portion of the L-shaped support member. Anordinary lock may be used to secure the support member to the flange.The support member rests against the ground and maintains the tongue ofthe trailer oblique to the ground in such a position that the trailerhitch is disposed at a level spaced vertically from the level of thehitch mechanism on the towing vehicle so that towing of the trailer bythe vehicle is virtually impossible with the support member in thisposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a trailershowing the antitheft device attached near the front thereof;

FIG. 2 is a view of the anti-theft device with the lock removed, takenalong line II-II OF FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-- III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the anti-theft device disclosing thesupport member in a storage position; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a trailer showing the antitheft deviceattached near the rear thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, anti-theftdevice 2 is shown connected to tongue 4 near the front of a trailer'6.The length of the first or longer segment 7 of L-shaped support member 8is chosen to maintain the tongue of the trailer at an angle oblique tosurface S, when support member 8 is in the use position to thereby makemovement of the trailer virtually impossible. Stated another way, thelength of segment 7 of support member 8 is such that the trailer hitch 9is disposed at a level or height spaced above the level of the trailerball 10 attached to a towing vehicle 11 so that the hitch 9 cannot belowered to engage the ball 10 for towing. I will be understood that thehitch 9 and ball 10 are of any suitable construction, such as the usualball and socket type of trailer hitch well known to those skilled in theart. Anti-theft 2 may be connected to a trailer near the rear thereof asis disclosed in FIG. 5, in which case the trailer hitch 9 is disposed ata level or height spaced below the level of the trailer ball 10 so thatany attempt to raise hitch 9 to engage ball 10 for towing would beprevented by support member 8.

Device 2 includes an inverted U-shaped member 12 which may be attachedto the trailer by any conventional means. U-shaped member 12 includes anupper side 12', and a pair of laterally spaced sides 12" and 12",integrally attached to upper side 12 and depending therefrom. TheU-shaped member 12 may be bolted to the trailer 6 via openings 14 and 16shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A spacer 18 is provided when the presentinvention is to be bolted to the trailer to thus prevent the tongueportion 19 of support member 8 from being obstructed by the head of abolt that may be inserted through hole 14 or 16. It is obvious, ofcourse, that openings 14 and 16 and spacer 18 may be omitted if oneshould desire to weld U-shaped member 12 to trailer tongue 4.

FIG. 3 discloses support member 8 in the use position. A lock 20 may beinserted through openings 21 and 22 in the tongue portion 19 of supportmember 8 and opening 24 of a flange member 26 to permanently place theanti-theft device in use. Flange member 26 is fixedly disposed withinU-shaped member 12 and includes a first portion 26, which is in parallelspaced relationship to upper side 12 and in which is provided opening24. In addition, flange member 26 includes a second portion 26" which isattached to portion 26' and depends perpendicularly therefrom.

FIG. 4 discloses support member 8 in the storage position. To securesupport member 8 in this position, support member 8v is inserted intoU-shaped member 12 such that opening 21 and an opening 28 in portion 26"are aligned. A look may then be inserted through openings 21 and 22 inthe tongue portion of support member 8 and opening 28 of flange portion26".

With the lock removed, the anti-theft device may be easily changed fromthe use position to the storage position It will be understood that, ifdesired, support member 8 may be stored some place other than in theabove described storage position, as for example in the boat or in thevehicle.

The present invention is extremely simple, having no springs or pins andonly two basic parts. The present invention is inexpensive and virtuallyfree from maintenance since it may be made of steel.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respectto a preferred embodiment thereof, it is not to be so limited sincechanges and modifications may be made therein which are within the fullintended scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An anti-theft device for trailers that are engagea,

ble to tow vehicles comprising means for maintaining the tongue of saidtrailer at an angle oblique to the surface upon which said trailer isresting for preventing engagement of the tongue of said trailer to a towvehicle, said means comprising a support member and lock means forlockably attaching said support member to said trailer.

2. An anti-theft device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means forlockably attaching said support member to said trailer comprises aninverted U-shaped member adapted to be attached to said trailer, saidU-shaped member having a first side, a second side and an upper side;said U-shaped member being adapted to receive said support member.

3. An anti-theft device for trailers comprising means for maintainingthe tongue of said trailer at an angle oblique to the surface upon whichsaid trailer is resting, said means comprising a support member and ameans for securely attaching said support member to said trailer; saidmeans for securely attaching said support member to said trailercomprising an inverted U- shaped member adapted to be attached to saidtrailer, said U-shaped member having a first side, a second side and anupper side; said U-shaped member being adapted to receive said supportmember; said means for securely attaching said support means to saidtrailer further comprising a flange member having a first portion and asecond portion, said first portion being mounted between said first andsecond sides of said U- shaped member parallel to said upper side ofsaid U shaped member; said second portion of said flange member beingmounted between said first and second sides of said U-shaped memberperpendicular to said upper side of said U-shaped member; said firstportion of said flange having an opening therethrough; said supportmember having an opening therethrough for alignment with said openingthrough saidfirst portion of said flange member whereby a locking meansmay be inserted to secure said support member to said flange member.

4. An anti-theft device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said secondportion of said flange member has an opening therethrough which may bealignedwith said opening thru said support member whereby a lockingmeans may be inserted therethrough to maintain said support member in astorage position wherein said support member is substantially parallelto the tongue of said trailer.

5. An anti-theft device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said supportmember comprises a first segment having a length substantially greaterthan the height of said trailer and a tongue member having at least afirst side and an end, said tongue member being mounted perpendicular tosaid first segment and having a length substantially the same as saidfirst and second portions of said flange member; said opening throughsaid support member comprising an opening through said first side andsaid end of said tongue member.

6. An anti-theft device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said anti-theftdevice is mounted near the front of said trailer, said first segment ofsaid support member having a predetermined length commensurate with thelocation of said anti-theft device to maintain the tongue of saidtrailer at an angle such that the rearward portion of said trailer ispositioned near said surface to make movement of said trailer virtuallyimpossible.

7. An anti-theft device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said anti-theftdevice is mounted near the rear of said trailer, said first segment ofsaid support member having a predetermined length commensurate with thelocation of said anti-theft device to maintain the tongue of saidtrailer at an angle such that the frontward portion of said trailer ispositioned near said surface to make movement of said trailer virtuallyimpossible.

8. The combination with a trailer of the type comprising a frameincluding a tongue and trailer hitch means mounted on said tongue forengaging a complementary hitch mechanism mounted on a vehicle at apredetermined level for towing the trailer, of an antitheft devicecomprising a support member and means including lock means securelyattaching said support member to said frame in an in use positiondepending downwardly from said frame into engagement with the trailer'ssupporting surface to hold said trailer hitch means at a level spacedvertically from the level of said hitch mechanism with said tongue at anangle oblique to the surface upon which the trailer is resting so thatsaid trailer hitch means is prevented from engaging said hitch mechanismfor towing said trailer without unlocking said lock means and removingsaid support member from said in use position.

1. An anti-theft device for trailers that are engageable to tow vehiclescomprising means for maintaining the tongue of said trailer at an angleoblique to the surface upon which said trailer is resting for preventingengagement of the tongue of said trailer to a tow vehicle, said meanscomprising a support member and lock means for lockably attaching saiDsupport member to said trailer.
 2. An anti-theft device as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said means for lockably attaching said support member tosaid trailer comprises an inverted U-shaped member adapted to beattached to said trailer, said U-shaped member having a first side, asecond side and an upper side; said U-shaped member being adapted toreceive said support member.
 3. An anti-theft device for trailerscomprising means for maintaining the tongue of said trailer at an angleoblique to the surface upon which said trailer is resting, said meanscomprising a support member and a means for securely attaching saidsupport member to said trailer; said means for securely attaching saidsupport member to said trailer comprising an inverted U-shaped memberadapted to be attached to said trailer, said U-shaped member having afirst side, a second side and an upper side; said U-shaped member beingadapted to receive said support member; said means for securelyattaching said support means to said trailer further comprising a flangemember having a first portion and a second portion, said first portionbeing mounted between said first and second sides of said U-shapedmember parallel to said upper side of said U-shaped member; said secondportion of said flange member being mounted between said first andsecond sides of said U-shaped member perpendicular to said upper side ofsaid U-shaped member; said first portion of said flange having anopening therethrough; said support member having an opening therethroughfor alignment with said opening through said first portion of saidflange member whereby a locking means may be inserted to secure saidsupport member to said flange member.
 4. An anti-theft device as setforth in claim 3 wherein said second portion of said flange member hasan opening therethrough which may be aligned with said opening thru saidsupport member whereby a locking means may be inserted therethrough tomaintain said support member in a storage position wherein said supportmember is substantially parallel to the tongue of said trailer.
 5. Ananti-theft device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said support membercomprises a first segment having a length substantially greater than theheight of said trailer and a tongue member having at least a first sideand an end, said tongue member being mounted perpendicular to said firstsegment and having a length substantially the same as said first andsecond portions of said flange member; said opening through said supportmember comprising an opening through said first side and said end ofsaid tongue member.
 6. An anti-theft device as set forth in claim 5wherein said anti-theft device is mounted near the front of saidtrailer, said first segment of said support member having apredetermined length commensurate with the location of said anti-theftdevice to maintain the tongue of said trailer at an angle such that therearward portion of said trailer is positioned near said surface to makemovement of said trailer virtually impossible.
 7. An anti-theft deviceas set forth in claim 5 wherein said anti-theft device is mounted nearthe rear of said trailer, said first segment of said support memberhaving a predetermined length commensurate with the location of saidanti-theft device to maintain the tongue of said trailer at an anglesuch that the frontward portion of said trailer is positioned near saidsurface to make movement of said trailer virtually impossible.
 8. Thecombination with a trailer of the type comprising a frame including atongue and trailer hitch means mounted on said tongue for engaging acomplementary hitch mechanism mounted on a vehicle at a predeterminedlevel for towing the trailer, of an anti-theft device comprising asupport member and means including lock means securely attaching saidsupport member to said frame in an ''''in use'''' position dependingdownwardly from said frame into engagement with the trailer''ssupportIng surface to hold said trailer hitch means at a level spacedvertically from the level of said hitch mechanism with said tongue at anangle oblique to the surface upon which the trailer is resting so thatsaid trailer hitch means is prevented from engaging said hitch mechanismfor towing said trailer without unlocking said lock means and removingsaid support member from said ''''in use'''' position.